Subscriptions to Netflix on the rise while HBO and Showtime subscriptions fall

A recent report shows that Netflix is growing steadily, with the percentage of households using the service increasing from 32 percent to 38 percent over the last 18 months. Subscriptions to other streaming services like Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime are increasing as well, up 4 percentage points over the same period. And meanwhile, HBO and Showtime have seen their subscriber base decline by 6 percent over the same timespan.

While the study didn't measure a direct cause-and-effect relationship, it's likely this reflects a larger trend of viewers dumping cable in favor of streaming services, which are cheaper and have a better selection. Or maybe it's just that, since every single device in your house is now streaming its own shows, having HBO and Showtime on top of all that seems excessive. Or it's also possible that, since HBO is cool with everyone sharing HBO Go passwords, everyone has figured they'd just do that, instead of shelling out to the cable company to find out who survives the next season of Game Of Thrones. (Spoiler alert: None of them do. Everyone in Westeros dies, and Jamie's horse ends up ruling the Seven Kingdoms with an iron hoof.)